Arsenal vs Liverpool: Sead Kolasinac urges Gunners to get tight on their pacy opponents

Arsenal full-back Sead Kolasinac has urged his teammates to get tight on Liverpool and not afford them any space or they may end up on the wrong end of a beating. The Gunners were smashed 4-0 by the Reds in the reverse fixture at Anfield in August, which they will be looking to remedy.

The Reds will visit the Emirates with the Premier League's leading goalscorer in Mohamed Salah whose pace has put defences across the league on a knife's edge. The Egypt international tops the league with 14 goals, while Roberto Firmino and Phillipe Coutinho have chipped in with six and five strikes respectively.

Sadio Mane also has pace to burn but all eyes will be on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who featured in the reverse fixture at the Emirates. He joined Liverpool in a £35m ($47m) deal on transfer deadline day after turning down a deal worth up to £180,000 a week to continue his development under Arsene Wenger.

The former Southampton man has started only five Premier League games for Liverpool, making a further 10 league appearances from the bench, with opportunities restricted by the team's fine form. However, he may be in line for a start against his former club but Kolasinac reckons the man to look out for would be Salah.

"Firstly they made a really good transfer in getting Mohamed Salah," he told Arsenal's official website. "He's integrated quickly and has scored a lot of goals and given a lot of assists too. When you look at the four they have in attack and see the players they have on the bench, they are all quality. They all have a lot of pace.

"If you know someone is faster than you, don't give them any space, get tight and prevent them from having an opportunity to use their pace. That will be decisive. If their front players are able to utilise their speed, it will be tough to catch them. Before they get on the ball, we need to be tight to them.

"I've followed Liverpool because Joel Matip is a good friend of mine. As a team, they work well and that's why it will be a difficult task for us to beat them on Friday."